Deb Spence

Prejudice, Paradox, and Possibility: Nursing People from Cultures Other than One’s Own

Nurses in New Zealand are being challenged to recognise and address racism in their practice. Yet, the implementation of cultural safety in nursing education has created tension within the profession and between nursing and the wider community. This article provides a brief overview of the findings of a hermeneutic study that explored the experience of nursing people from cultures other than one’s own. The notions prejudice, paradox, and possibility are argued to describe this phenomenon. As nurses negotiate the conflicts essential for ongoing development of their practice, the play of prejudice, paradox, and possibility is evident at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels as well as in relation to professional and other discourses. Nurses are challenged to continue their efforts to understand and move beyond the prejudices that otherwise preclude the exploration of new possibilities.

Re-Viewing Literature in Hermeneutic Research

In academia there seems to be a taken for granted assumption that there is one way to do a literature review. This paper argues that the manner of reviewing literature needs to be congruent with the particular research methodology. As an example, the authors explicate reviewing literature in hermeneutic research. The paper begins by discussing philosophical assumptions. The authors then offer personal accounts of their experiences of working with literature in ways that are congruent with hermeneutic methodology. It is argued that the key purpose of exploring literature in hermeneutic research is to provide context and provoke thinking. Literature, which can include anything that provokes thinking on the phenomenon of interest, becomes an essential dialogical partner from which scholarly thinking and new insights emerge. In conclusion distinguishing hallmarks of ways of working hermeneutically with literature are articulated

Crafting Stories in Hermeneutic Phenomenology Research A Methodological Device

Hermeneutic phenomenology, as a methodology, is not fixed. Inherent in its enactment are contested areas of practice such as how interview data are used and reported. Using philosophical notions drawn from hermeneutic phenomenological literature, we argue that working with crafted stories is congruent with the philosophical underpinnings of this methodology. We consider how the practical ontic undertaking of story crafting from verbatim transcripts is integral with the interpretive process. We show how verbatim transcripts can be crafted into stories through examples taken from interview data. Our aim is to open dialogue with other hermeneutic phenomenological researchers and offer alternate possibilities to conventional ways of work with qualitative data. We argue that crafted stories can provide glimpses of phenomena that other forms of data analysis and presentation may leave hidden. We contend that crafted stories are an acceptable and trustworthy methodological device.

Kairos time at the moment of birth.

BACKGROUND there is something extraordinary in the lived experience of being there at the time of birth. Yet the meaning and significance of this special time, named Kairos time in this paper, have received little attention. AIM to describe the lived-experience of Kairos time at birth and surface its meaning. METHODOLOGY this is an interpretive hermeneutic phenomenology study informed by the writings of Heidegger and Gadamer. 14 in-depth interviews with mothers, birth partners, midwives and obstetricians were transcribed and stories from the data were hermeneutically analysed. FINDINGS there is a time, like no other, at the moment of birth that is widely known and valued. This paper reveals and names this phenomenon Kairos time. This is a felt-time that is lineal, process and cyclic time and more. Kairos time describes an existential temporal experience that is rich in significant sacred meaning; a time of emergent insight rarely spoken about in practice yet touches everyone present. The notion of Kairos time in relation to the moment of birth is introduced as a reminder of something significant that matters. KEY CONCLUSIONS Kairos time is revealed as a moment in and beyond time. It has a temporal enigmatic mystery involving spiritual connectedness. Kairos time is a time of knowing and remembrance of our shared natality. In this time life is disclosed as extraordinary and beyond everyday personal and professional concerns. It is all this and more. IMPLICATIONS Kairos time at birth is precious and powerful yet vulnerable. It needs to be safeguarded to ensure its presence continues to emerge. This means maternity care providers and others at birth need to shelter and protect Kairos time from the sometimes harsh realities of birth and the potentially insensitive ways of being there at the moments of birth. Those who find themselves at birth need to pause and allow the profundity of its meaning to surface and inspire their actions.

Dementia: The need for attitudinal change

Objective To undertake a systematic inquiry into the experience of living with dementia in the community. Design Action research, underpinned by critical hermeneutics, brought together action and reflection, theory and practice to generate knowledge. Data were gathered by interviews and observations in participants’ homes, and focus group discussions in community settings. Participants Eleven people with mild to moderate dementia and their primary caregiver aged 59–84, living in Auckland, New Zealand. Results The findings reveal a conflict between living positively with dementia, and enduring the negative attitudes that typify the dominant social discourse. The central argument arising from the findings is the significance of personal attitudes. Conclusions Implications for policy makers, health care providers, and caregivers highlight the need to change the ways in which dementia is perceived. The pursuit of positive attitudes will do much to change social perceptions and enable people with dementia to live with a sense of well-being.

Feeling like a nurse: re-calling the spirit of nursing.

Purpose: To explore the essential meaning of being a nurse. Design: Nine registered nurses were each asked to write a story of a time when they felt like a nurse. Analysis was informed by Heideggerian hermeneutic philosophy, seeking to reveal the phenomenon of “feeling like a nurse.” Methods: As part of a workshop on phenomenological methodology, participants were invited to reflect on a personal experience of feeling like a nurse. These documents were analyzed according to the method of van Manen. Participants were kept informed throughout each phase. Findings: Feelings announce primordial meaning of feeling like a nurse. Nurses experience the call as mood attuned by an anxiety that creates possibilities for authentic caring. It is a way of being that encompasses watching and acting, doing to and caring for, and taking over and giving back. Moreover, it is after the encounter that the essential meaning is more clearly revealed. We argue that there is value in continuing to question the meaning of “being a nurse.” Amid a complex and increasingly technological world, this calls the profession to remember the human encounter at the heart of all nursing.

Action research: Changing history for people living with dementia in New Zealand

Action research methods were underpinned by critical hermeneutic philosophy to uncover and interpret the support needs of people living with dementia in New Zealand. This involved 11 people with mild to moderate dementia and their primary caregiver in a collaborative process with the researcher. Data collection and analysis were reciprocally integrated, and the participants engaged in the production of knowledge. Coded data generated categories, the adequacy of which was judged by participants to clarify emerging understandings. The participants concluded that the historically rooted understandings of dementia in New Zealand needed to change. Dynamic involvement by the researcher at political, professional and community levels was informed by Kögler’s (1999) version of critical hermeneutics. The actions evolving from the study contributed to significant changes that are occurring in New Zealand’s health care system with regards to people with dementia. These outcomes highlight the value of engaging with critical hermeneutic philosophy.

Nursing people from cultures other than one's own: a perspective from New Zealand

ABSTRACT Nursing a person from another culture is a dynamic, complex and tension-filled phenomenon. It is also always culturally and historically situated.This paper provides an overview of the evolving meaning of ‘culture’ in New Zealand nursing.Then, drawing upon the findings of research that used hermeneutic phenomenology to explore the experience of nursing people from cultures other than ones own, a description of the constituent parts is of this phenomenon is briefly outlined and followed by an exemplar that describes the coalescent and contradictory nature of the phenomenon as a whole. As New Zealand nurses negotiate the conflicts essential for ongoing development of their practice, interplay of the notions of prejudice, paradox and possibility is evident at intrapersonal and interpersonal levels as well as in relation to professional and other discourses.

Supervising for Robust Hermeneutic Phenomenology Reflexive Engagement Within Horizons of Understanding

Undertaking philosophically hermeneutic research requires embodying the fundamental hermeneutic notions espoused by Heidegger, Gadamer, and other related philosophers. For both supervisors and students, there is “a way” of working that infuses a hermeneutic project with a particular kind of contemplative openness. In this article, I will draw from my own experience of coming to appreciate the nature of this approach. Reading Gadamer challenged me to see that, before interpreting the meanings inherent in research data, I first needed to grapple with the fact that I brought ready-made prejudices to the interpretation. Further, and perhaps more importantly, was the recognition that while prejudices may have a negative influence, they could also bring a positive view. Just as I needed to understand key Gadamerian notions to shed light on the interpretive nature of philosophical hermeneutics, I will unpack these to underpin the ongoing discussion of hermeneutic research strategies. In articulating “how” to be hermeneutic, I explain how I guide students embarking on hermeneutic research. Discussion centres on surfacing and engaging with preunderstandings through ‘presuppositions interviewing‘, journalling and the careful selection of words that refine and crystallise meanings in ways that reflectively and reflexively engage and expand horizons of understanding. In this article, I use examples from my own experience as a doctoral student and supervisor of doctoral students to assist other supervisors and students understand both the importance of “being hermeneutic” and ways of achieving robust and philosophically congruent hermeneutic research.

Methodology, Meditation, and Mindfulness Toward a Mindfulness Hermeneutic

Understanding the nondualistic nature of mindfulness is a complex and challenging task particularly when most clinical psychology draws from Western methodologies and methods. In this article, we argue that the integration of philosophical hermeneutics with Eastern philosophy and practices may provide a methodology and methods to research mindfulness practice. Mindfulness hermeneutics brings together the nondualistically aligned Western philosophies of Heidegger and Gadamer and selected Eastern philosophies and practices in an effort to bridge the gap between these differing worldviews. Based on the following: (1) fusion of horizons, (2) being in a hermeneutic circle, (3) understanding as intrinsic to awareness, and (4) the ongoing practice of meditation, a mindfulness hermeneutic approach was used to illuminate deeper understandings of mindfulness practice in ways that are congruent with its underpinning philosophies.